The Game (23 page)

Either way, I was relieved. I would call Mr. Schultz later and explain my insanity,
but at this point the man would be crazy to keep me on as an employee of Talent Marketing
Group after I’d acted like a lunatic several times.

My tires screeched on the smooth concrete garage floor as I pulled out into the afternoon
traffic.

Deep breaths helped me gather my wits.

Chapter Twenty-Five

The grip I had on the steering wheel was so tight my fingers ached. I had no idea
where to go next. My apartment was trashed, my parents would be out of their minds
with concern if I returned there, and my only local best friend would be at work.

I wished I could talk to Amy. She would be at work too, but at least her mind would
be clearer than mine, and she could help me calm down and figure out what to do.

I made several turns and headed out of the center of downtown in search of a place
to pull over. I chose a fast-food parking lot and pulled into a vacant section in
the back corner.

My phone rang as I reached for my purse, startling me. I glanced at the caller ID.
Riley. Of course. I declined his call and made my call to Amy.

She picked up on the first ring. “Cheyenne. I’ve been so worried about you. What’s
going on?”

I leaned my head back against my seat and closed my eyes. “My apartment was trashed,
and apparently so was my office.”

“I heard. Are you okay?”

“You heard already?” Jesus.

“Yeah. Riley called when you left your office.”

“Could he possibly meddle any more than he has?” My high blood pressure kept shooting
higher.

“Cheyenne, listen to me. You need to go to Riley’s house. Let him explain.”

“Are you crazy? I didn’t call you to give me that kind of advice. Amy, I need you
to be supportive. If you can’t, I’ll hang up now.”

“Cheyenne, please. I’m not trying to be a bitch here.”

“You are if you’re on his side.”

“There are no sides, Cheyenne. I just want to help.”

“Well, the sort of help I need is cry-on-your-shoulder help. Not go-talk-to-the-lying-bastard
help.”

She giggled.

“
Amy
,” I shot back. This wasn’t funny at all.

“Sorry.” She tried to sober, but I could picture her bottom lip between her teeth
as she fought another laugh. “Cheyenne, if you don’t listen to reason, Christine wins.”

“I don’t give a fuck if Christine wins, Amy. That’s the whole point. She can have
him. She can have the job at Talent Marketing Group. I just want to be left alone.”

“I know you do, hon, but it doesn’t work like that with Christine. And you can’t seriously
tell me you’d let that bitch win and walk away. I thought you had more spunk than
that.”

“That was before my life was ruined. I don’t give a fuck anymore. I just want to leave
town and reinvent myself somewhere where neither of them can find me and I don’t have
to look over my shoulder to make sure I’m not about to get stabbed. I’ve had enough
of conniving rich people.”

“Riley isn’t like that.” She sighed.

I was losing my patience with her lack of support. “Riley lied to me.”

“He was only trying to protect you.”

“I didn’t ask for protection. I asked him specifically to stay out of it.”

“Cheyenne.”

“What?” I screamed.

“Please do me this one favor. Before you go off half-cocked, stop at his house and
let him tell his side of the story. That’s all I’m asking. Surely you can do that
one thing. Do it for me. Do it for you.”

I stared out the windshield at the bushes that ran along the back of the parking lot.
I wasn’t sure I could do what Amy wanted. And I definitely couldn’t see the purpose.

However, I also didn’t have an immediate plan. I would need to go back to my apartment
at some point and clean up the mess so I could gather whatever was salvageable and
take it with me. That wasn’t going to happen today. Which meant I needed someplace
to stay. Meagan’s was the logical choice.

“Cheyenne?”

“Yeah. I’m here.”

“Drive to Riley’s.”

I let my eyes flutter closed again. “Okay.”

“You will?” Her voice perked up.

“Sure.” What could it hurt? At least I would have closure when it was over. And I
would need to find a way to get along with the man for the rest of my life if our
lives were going to be so intertwined with Amy’s and Cade’s.

I ended the call with Amy and backed out of the spot.

With extreme hesitation, I headed to Riley’s. Why was the man going to be home in
the middle of a Tuesday anyway? And why was he at my office earlier?

There were several cars out front when I pulled up and turned off the engine.

I climbed from my car on wobbly legs, too exhausted for this forced confrontation
that would surely end with both of us angrier than we already were.

Riley opened the front door and hurried in my direction before I got halfway up the
front walk.

“Cheyenne,” he whispered as he approached, slowing his gate and not touching me. His
brow was furrowed. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. I hadn’t noticed that at
my office.

I stopped walking. “Amy insisted we make amends.”

He smiled, his eyes lighting up. “You’ll do what Amy asks, but not me?”

My ears flamed red as I opened my mouth to counter that insanity. “Pardon? How dare
you. I’ve done all sorts of shit for you, most of which isn’t mentionable in public.
It’s you who won’t do as I ask.”

“Touché.” He reached for my bicep and gently nudged me forward. “Come inside. There
are some people here you need to meet.”

Was he kidding? I was in no mood to meet anyone. Hell, I never wanted to be introduced
to any of his friends again in this lifetime, but certainly not today.

Riley’s shoulders slumped. “Please, Cheyenne. Cut me some slack here. I’m trying to
come clean.”

“With guests?”

“It’s not like I’m throwing a party in there, baby. This is important.”

I narrowed my gaze. I looked like a homeless woman at this point. And why should I
care? If he wanted to introduce me to people at this juncture, it would only make
him look like he’d lost his marbles for ever dating me in the first place.

“Fine.” I nodded toward the house and followed him inside, shaking off the slight
touch he had on my arm.

After he closed the door behind me, he set a hand on my back and led me toward his
spacious family room. I’d stood naked in that room several times, and just thinking
about that made me shudder.

Riley didn’t comment.

Two men stood from where they sat on the couch. Both turned toward me and smiled.
One was Riley’s age with gorgeous dark hair that curled slightly on the ends and green
eyes that made women melt at his feet. I remembered him. This was Parker Darwin, the
third friend of Riley and Cade who lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The other man was significantly older, old enough to be their father. His hair was
gray and he was balding on top, but he was clearly sophisticated and wealthy. His
suit jacket was draped over the back of the couch carefully. His white shirt was perfectly
starched, and he smoothed a hand down his designer tie as he smiled at me. “You must
be Cheyenne.”

I was skeptical. Who was this guy, and why was he in Riley’s house? I felt like I
was at an intervention. If he was some sort of BDSM mentor or something, I would not
only run from the house, I would also shoot Riley in the head the next chance I got.

Riley pressed me forward, his hand still at the small of my back. “Cheyenne Decard,”
he addressed the older gentleman first and then turned toward Parker. “And you’ve
met Parker Darwin before, right?”

I nodded toward Parker.

“And this is Harold Parson.”

Parson? As in Christine Parson?

“Christine’s father.”

“Sorry to meet on such a stressful day,” the man said as he stepped closer and reached
to shake my hand. “I’m also sorry for what my daughter has put you through.”

What? I took his hand and let him shake mine, but I didn’t put much energy into the
grip.

“Let’s sit.” Riley nodded at the couch where Harold and Parker had been sitting when
we walked in. He grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the love seat at an angle from
the couch, gripping me firmly enough to keep me from withdrawing.

I perched on the edge of the cushion, careful to avoid any contact with Riley. In
fact, I scooted away from him several inches when I regained control of my hand. I
crossed my legs and sat up straight, my hands on my top knee. “What’s this about?”

Mr. Parson spoke again. “It seems my daughter has caused quite a disturbance here.”

“That’s an understatement,” Riley muttered.

“I want you all to know that you have my cooperation with regard to locating her and
turning her over to the police.”

What was this man up to?

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so obtuse when it came to Christine, but she is my
daughter, and I fear I gave her the benefit of the doubt one time too many.”

Riley leaned forward. I could feel him staring at the side of my head. “Harold is
one of our lawyers. His firm represents Edgewater Inc. in Charlotte. He has worked
for us for many years.”

I turned to look at Riley head on, giving him a why-should-I-give-a-fuck stare.

Riley blew out a breath.

Parker took over, and I turned my gaze willingly to face him. “Six years ago, when
we were all in good standing and Riley and Christine were an item that seemed inseparable,
we hired her father to represent Edgewater. He owns a law office in Charlotte and
another in Roanoke, Virginia. His firm represents many large clients in both states.”

Ah, so this was a rich guy. Richer perhaps than Riley and his friends.

“I haven’t seen Harold since Christine and I broke things off last year, but he’s
been working with Parker.”

Mr. Parson cleared his throat. “My daughter weaves a very different tale than the
one I’ve gathered from Riley over the past few days.” He smiled politely and continued.
“She led me to believe Riley had dumped her for no reason other than the fact that
someone had spread lies about her and he believed them.

“She has spent the better part of the last year conniving to earn him back and get
him to see reason. I chose to stay out of it and let her figure things out for herself.
I should have spoken to Riley a year ago, but I was a bit miffed he’d broken things
off with my daughter, and I didn’t want to risk destroying the business relationship
we’d established.”

Undoubtedly because it was a lucrative arrangement. The man’s actions couldn’t be
wholly altruistic.

“Frankly, I should have contacted you myself, Harold. I take full responsibility for
that.” Riley ran a hand through his disheveled hair and continued. “I didn’t have
anything nice to say about Christine, and I didn’t see the need to drag her through
the coals with you, sir. So, I took the easy way out and left it alone.”

Mr. Parson nodded. “I can understand that. Neither of us should have stepped away,
especially since we still have a business arrangement that could have suffered from
the misunderstanding.”

Parker chuckled, shocking me in the middle of this serious come-to-Jesus moment for
Riley and Mr. Parson. “Misunderstanding is an understatement. Christine is a lunatic.”

I was shocked at how blunt Parker was.

Mr. Parson nodded again. “Apparently.”

“What does this have to do with me?” I finally interjected. All I wanted to do was
get the hell out of town. I didn’t give a fuck what misunderstandings these three
men needed to work out.

Mr. Parson spoke again. “Christine came to me several weeks ago and asked me to get
her a job in Atlanta. It seems she thought if she moved closer to Riley, she could
win him back. I personally didn’t think it was a good idea. If the man wanted her
around, he would have made himself known. But I called in a favor from my old friend
Joseph Schultz.”

I flinched.

Parker tapped his lips with one hand and blew out a breath as though exasperated.
“None of us had any idea she had gotten that job or that she was moving to Atlanta.
And we certainly didn’t know you worked there.”

“Hell,” Riley added, “even I didn’t know where you worked.”

“Apparently Christine did. Yay me.”

Mr. Parson smiled at my sarcasm. “Christine must have lost it when she realized Riley
was seeing another woman and then found out where you worked. She called me the day
after she saw you at that fundraiser and asked me to get her a job at Talent Marketing
Group. Said she wanted to make a fresh start from the bottom rung.”

I flinched at his reference to my company being the bottom rung.

Mr. Parson waved a hand in the air. “Her words. Not mine. I swear I had no idea she
was planning to sabotage your job or your relationship.”

I jumped from my seat. “With all due respect, sir, your daughter has ruined my life.
She trashed my apartment and my work place. I can’t go anywhere without looking over
my shoulder. I have to move to another city to start over.”

Riley stood next to me and wrapped an arm around my middle.